Benjamin M. Miller

Benjamin Meek Miller (13 March 1864-6 February 1944) was Governor of Alabama from 19 January 1931 to 14 January 1935, serving in between Bibb Graves' two terms in office.

Biography
Benjamin Meek Miller was born in Oak Hill, Alabama on 13 March 1864. He graduated from Erskine College in 1884, working as a teacher for five years before becoming a lawyer. In 1888, Miller was elected to the State House of Representatives to represent Wilcox County, serving as a member of the US Democratic Party. In 1890, he was one of the founders of the Camden Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. From 1921 to 1927, he also served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama, losing his seat to a Ku Klux Klan-supported candidate after the 1926 election. In 1930, he won the governorship of Alabama, attacking the power of the KKK and their puppet governor, Bibb Graves. Miller's election was a blow to the Klan, and he reformed state laws to allow the collection of income tax to reduce the state debt of $20,000,000. In March 1933, he also proclaimed a bank holiday, which he considered to be his greatest achievement. All highway work was paid in cash under Miller, and the miles of paved roads in Alabama doubled. In 1935, Miller left office and returned to practicing law, dying in Selma, Alabama in 1944 at the age of 79.